That's because they know that they don't have to listen to him anymore. In a little over a month, he will be gone but (depending on when their own personal election is scheduled) a lot of those representatives will still be around long after. They know that whatever they do, they will have to answer to the voters about it and this one felt kind of safe since it was Bush and his appointees that were trying to force it through.

There's an ideological element to it as well. A great deal of Republicans are tied to the idea that the free-market is a near-perfect system (even though the present crisis is the result of under-regulation of the banking loans system) and a massive government bailout of failing businesses is essentially an admission that their ideology is flawed. For that reason a lot of them won't vote for Bush's package even if it was in their own interests. People aren't very good at admitting they've thrown their lot in with a crock - look at Labour's slow admittance that a nationalisation wasn't the answer, it took them over a decade.

On the other side, you've got Democrats who know that this is a massive government bailout of businesses that have spent the last 20 years arguing for smaller government and deregulation - the very things that helped bring about the crisis - and are now going cap in hand to the taxpayer demanding corporate welfare. Again, for ideological reasons the reaction of a lot of them is "make your bed, lie in it".

So it's about rather more than just shrugging-off a lame duck President (although that is a big part of it, as is the fact that the bailout is unpopular with ordinary Americans as silentbob037 suggests). The bailout will go through, though, it's probably going to be essential to prevent a collapse in US stock market which it's in everyone's interests to prevent.

The main thing that people are starting to get nervous about collapsing has to do with the credit markets here in the US. All aspects of this area have seriously tightened up their rules to the point that it's becoming nearly impossible to get any kind of loan unless you have an absolutely perfect credit rating. The idea is that, by buying this back debt off of the banking companies, it will free up there assets to start being a little more giving with the credit. When McDonalds restaurants are having trouble getting credit for the franchises to order more of the company specific products they sell (like hamburger patties and stuff like that), you know that things are going bad.

The worst-case scenario is that the US goes into deep recession which will impact on the rest of the world. I don't think it'll be as bad as 1929 - Europe and East Asia have strong economies in their own right now - but it'll be bad and it'll accelerate the American decline.

Best-case scenario is that the US stockmarket recovers strongly from the slump and Europe and East Asia feel rather less shockwaves and the recessions are only short-term whilst confidence returns to the markets.

I think both scenarios are very unlikely. Chances are we'll have a global recession but not another Great Depression.

Wanna know something scary about the whole thing? Now the news channels are reporting that some of the banks may not have the cash on hand to release funds to companies trying to meet payroll. This is VERY VERY scary!

And scarier to us now because we now have a mortgage to pay and money is a whole lot tighter because of it.

This is just the market adjusting itself. Trust in the invisible hand, all will be good. Just consider the alternative; regulations on the financial sector restricting what they can do with your money! Ludicrous. Let the market have a free hand and ultimately it will all be OK. In a few years time we'll look back on this and laugh. After all, this bail out package was just back door socialism, and that would be the end of civilisation as we know it.